Hi All - thanks for all the information in this thread. It has been very helpful!

I just completed my PSK step today at a Chennai office. It seems like I have a different situation compared to others in this thread. My application did not go to police approval. I asked the office about doing the verification quickly, but he said GES is a different background verification. No police verification was set up in my account and my application status now states:

"GEP Verification Process has been initiated on your application. Once inputs from all the concerned Government Authorities are received, the Report will be shared with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). No queries would be entertained in relation to your GEP application status at the Passport Offices and PSP Call Centre. You may contact CBP for further updates on the processing of your GEP application."

Has anyone else run into this? Is this new? I'm worried that the PSK is confused about the process and may have skipped my police verification. I'm only in India for a few more day and don't want to risk missing any steps in the process. Should I contact someone regarding the lack of police verification?

I would appreciate any insight!

Thanks!